Swan Queen Week: Tuesday: Who Do You Think You Are?
by Joshua The Evil Guy
Summary: Post Season 2 Episode "The Queen of Hearts", but before "The Outsider". Emma loses her memory and the first person she sees is Regina. Could this have unforeseen consequences on how this new Emma will behave and react?


Title: Swan Queen Week: Tuesday: Amnesia

Author: Joshua

Disclaimer: ABC and Disney own Once Upon A Time and all associated characters. This story is in response to the challenge put forth by and for "Swan Queen Week" (), specifically the third bi-annual event, "Tropes & Cliches". Story contains descriptions and allusions to an 'Adult' relationship between two women. If this offends you, you always have the right to exercise your free will, and not read it.

Rated: M (for themes, content, and language)

Summary: Post Season 2 Episode "The Queen of Hearts", but before "The Outsider". Emma loses her memory and the first person she sees is Regina. Could this have unforeseen consequences on how this new Emma will behave and react?

Who Do You Think You Are?:

It was just another day in Storybrooke. And that's saying something.

After all, Storybrooke was created from a Curse that made all the citizens forget their true memories and replace them with false memories to play out various roles. Losing memories, amnesia in other words, was just par for the course in Storybrooke.

It just wasn't supposed to happen to the Savior; Emma Swan!

"What happened?!" Snow White screamed as she burst into the room.

"Snow, calm down," her husband and True Love urged as he kept pace beside her.

"I don't know."

The voice was quiet, spoken in a soft, vulnerable tone that very few could recognize or associate with the owner of it. Lacking the anger, superiority, and dark seductive tones, it was understandable to see how not many recognized the voice of the Evil Queen, Regina Mills.

"You had something to do with this, I know you did!" Snow raged with utter conviction, staring at her 'stepmother' with the closest thing the princess had ever come to rage.

"I…" Regina made to protest, but something stopped her, her voice dying in her throat. Was it guilt? After all this time and all the things she'd done? "Maybe I did. I don't know. One moment we're talking… arguing—like we usually do—and the next, she's passing out and saying she feels dizzy. I don't know what happened…"

Pulling his wife back, David, aka Prince Charming, glared angrily at the dark haired woman, but said nothing. Instead, he did what he thought would do the most good at the moment, and turned his attention to his daughter. The one person in the room who didn't have a clue as to what was going on at the moment.

"Emma?" he called for her gently.

The blue-eyed blond woman continued to look out the window of the classroom they were in, or rather more specifically at a blue jay nesting in its birdhouse. She'd heard him, she just didn't recognize her own name, he knew. "Emma," he tried again, touching her shoulder.

She jumped and looked back at him, fear and startlement in her expression.

"Emma," he said again, looking right at her.

"Oh, right, me," she smiled self-deprecatingly. "Sorry."

"It's OK," he said, smiling back. "I know this is pretty scary."

"Actually, that's the weird part," she said, shaking her head. "I don't really feel scared."

Everyone in the room looked up at that, surprised at that admission.

"I feel like… I'm not sure how to describe it, but I feel… lighter," she tried to explain. "Like, a, a burden or something has been taken off my shoulders. And I know I should be scared, that I should be freaking out and all anxious to get my memories back and everything, but having you all here makes it easy to believe that everything will be OK."

"What do you mean, honey?" Snow White asked, stepping forward.

Emma automatically smiled lovingly at the woman she'd been told was her mother. And she couldn't deny it either, despite the fact that they both were practically the same age, physically speaking, because she felt some kind… connection with the woman. It was primal, emotional, instinctual… basic. She trusted this woman without even knowing her, and felt an affection that could only be described properly as familial. She tried to put this into words so she could explain it to everyone.

"You're my family," she said. "You are my parents, and I more than believe that, I feel it. And while I don't remember each of you, obviously you're all my friends. And on top of all that, I have a son. And all of you love me. So I know everything is going to be OK."

"You're not afraid that we're lying to you?" Archie asked. As the resident psychologist, he felt the most invested in helping to resolve this particular… situation, and one factor that had been a staple of Emma's behavior was her natural mistrust of those around her and professing to care about her. It was fascinating to see that no longer being the case.

Her head tilted to the side as she looked the bespectacled redhead in the eye and replied, "I can tell that you're not. It's kinda funny how that works, huh?"

"Well, her superpower still works," Henry commented from his place amongst the circle of fairy tale heroes.

"I've got a superpower?" Emma perked up. Though she couldn't say why exactly, a part of her was rather… fascinated by the idea of her having an actual superpower. She wondered if she also had invisibility? For some reason, she kept picturing—and desiring—a silvery cloak that would make any who wore it invisible.

"I know this is going to sound strange, but Emma," her father spoke, "Can you remember anything at all about how this might have happened? A smell? Some kind of powder or liquid flying at you? Anything?"

She just shook her head, unable to recall the actual event where she lost her memories or anything before, just everything after it.

"What is the first thing that you can remember?" Snow asked, much calmer now that she was focused on her daughter, rather than her anger at what had happened.

Emma smiled and answered with a shrug, "Regina."

"I knew it! You did this, you witch!" Grumpy exploded, pointing accusingly at the dark-haired sorceress.

"I did not!" Regina insisted, which lit the proverbial spark as everyone in the room started shouting and accusing. Surprised at this, Emma just silently watched from the sidelines, learning, or perhaps re-learning, the lesson that people aren't nice and kind and caring all the time and sometimes they can be vicious, cruel, bigoted and ignorant. When it looked like things might escalate, Emma found that she could no longer stand by doing nothing. Which was fascinating, as she was learning about herself all over again.

"All right, that is enough!" the blond shouted, physically putting herself between the forming mob and the first person she'd met since losing her memory, and therefore the first person she'd ever known. "I said, that's enough! Regina didn't _do_ anything to me! And for everyone's information, my first memory is lying hurt on the ground, and then this woman," she pointed behind her at the brunette, "helping me and showing nothing but compassion and concern for me! She even brought me here, to you all! Now, if, and I stress the word _if_, she was the one to take my memories, wouldn't she just try and take advantage of me or take me somewhere else? Why would she bring me back to my family if she was trying to hurt me?"

Everyone looked down and away, shamefaced, quiet and subdued in the bold light of Emma's logic. Then she went and said it.

"Besides, she's my friend," Emma said proudly.

Everyone looked back up, shock intermingled with their surprise at that announcement. Even Regina looked shocked, not having expected anything like this, let alone her once bitter rival for Henry's affections defending her at all! Speaking of whom, the boy disengaged himself from the crowd and approached his biological mother.

"You guys are friends?" he asked, looking between his two mothers.

"Well, yeah," Emma shrugged, a little less confident under their stares. "I mean, why wouldn't we be? I was just lying there on the ground, and for all I know we'd just been fighting, or she could have just come across me. And there she was," her blue eyes sought out Regina's dark orbs, "Helping me. Asking me if I was all right. Then being more patient and compassionate toward me than I think even I could be. And if we weren't friends before, well then, we certainly are now."

"And you've just made this decision on your own, have you?" Regina remarked, a bit of her old sneer coming back to her.

Emma smiled, somehow able to see exactly what the regal woman was feeling at the moment, and answered, "Yep. I have decided, and there isn't a thing that you can do about it. We're friends."

She couldn't help it. At that moment, the grown woman looked so much like Henry when he was three years old and put his foot down about no longer having a bedtime, that Regina couldn't help but laugh and laugh and laugh. And then she couldn't stop.

Everyone in the room began to edge away from the hysterical Evil Queen, afraid that she was about to unleash some terrible dark magic on them because she'd finally snapped. All except for one that is. The memory-lost girl stepped forward and embraced the hysterical woman, ignoring her feeble struggles when she tried to fight the hold, but eventually allowed herself to be held when the laughing evolved into crying.

For the longest time, or at least it felt like that, everyone just stood and stared as Emma held and comforted Regina, both of them openly displaying sides to their character that they'd never allow to be seen by anyone they did not trust. That everyone else was there didn't matter. It was the one in their arms that truly mattered.

Eventually, sooner than expected, Regina got herself back under control and both women realized they were not alone, and hadn't been the whole time. Turning, and quite intentionally placing herself between her friend and her family, facing her family, Emma declared, "Regina is my friend. Anybody got a problem with it, deal with me first."

Seeing something that he hadn't dared dream about come to life before his eyes, Henry made an impulsive decision and stepped forward and placed himself beside Emma and in front of his mother. Reaching behind him, he took the dark-haired woman's hand in his own and declared, "And me second."

Emma grinned down at the boy that she'd been told was her son. She could totally see that. He was awesome. Which meant she was awesome.

"OK," David nodded.

Then, turning back toward the group, he prompted them to get back on task, as it were. "So, if Regina didn't take Emma's memories, the question becomes who did, and why?"

"Well, I suspect," Archie suggested, "if we can figure out how this was accomplished, those questions will be answered more easily. In this world, the only proven methods of memory loss are through the application of certain drugs, or trauma. Since it is quite clear from Regina's testimony that there was no trauma involved, that leaves us with drugs, or…"

"Magic," Grumpy growled.

"Magic?" Emma repeated.

"Yeah, magic is real," Henry piped in, afraid that Emma would outright deny everything remotely supernatural or beyond the norm as she'd done when she'd first come to Storybrooke.

"OK, but… what is it?" she asked him. At his confused/surprised look, she elaborated. "I mean, I know what trauma means, and when you guys say 'drugs', I get pictures in my head of needles and lines of white powder and really dirty, smelly, ugly people. But I don't know what magic is or what you mean by it."

Seeing that it would just waste time for the 'good guys' to explain what all magic is and was and could do, Regina wiped her eyes one final time and said while holding out her hand, "_This_ is magic." From the center of her open palm, a fountain of floating sparks exploded into existence, each a different rainbow of colors and flowing around and around above her hand. It was quite beautiful, though she only allowed it to last for a few moments of time.

"Awesome!" Emma grinned. "That was amazing! Can you do that again?"

"Yes," Regina smirked, and stepped away for a moment.

"Best! Friend! Ever! But so mean!" Emma called after her.

"All right," David tried to keep the conversation on course. "So, we have Doctor Whale do a work-up, check to see if Emma has been drugged or not. But in the meantime, if it is magic, and it isn't Regina, that just leaves one suspect."

"That's absurd," Regina suddenly exclaimed. "What would he have to gain from Emma losing her memories?"

"Well, without her memories, her experiences, she'll be vulnerable," Snow said.

"Yeah," Ruby/Red commented. "It's pretty clear already that she doesn't know who she can trust around here as it is."

The Evil Queen glared at Red Riding Hood, but refrained from further comment.

"Hey," Emma interjected. "I think I can judge for myself who is and isn't a friend. Besides, I met you guys pretty soon after losing my memories. Safe to say that you can catch me up pretty quick on what I'm missing, right? Isn't that how these things work? Somebody loses their memories and that's when the old family photos and childhood stories come out. So, bring on the baby book! Something to occupy my time while they're running whatever tests to find any drugs in my system would be good."

"OK then," David decided. "Snow, you and Henry take Emma to the hospital, get Whale to run those tests. Regina and I can go and talk to Gold, seeing as he's the only remaining viable suspect at the moment."

"You could at least _ask_ her first," Emma grumbled, putting her hands in her pockets, a comforting gesture.

Blushing, Prince Charming sheepishly nodded in acknowledgment, saying, "You're right Emma. Regina, I apologize for presuming. Would you please accompany me to find out if Gold took Emma's memories?"

Regina blinked, and then smiled triumphantly. "Thank you for asking," she said politely. "And yes, I think that I shall. If Gold is behind this, though I fail to see what it might gain him, then you'll need all the help you can get in confronting him."

"Thank you," he said, genuinely.

SQW

Unfortunately—depending upon your point of view—Gold was not alone when Charming and Regina burst into his store. Belle was standing behind the counter with him, occupying herself with a book, a novel by the title of "Memory Lane" no less. Rumplestiltskin was minding his register till.

"All right, you little imp,"Regina growled forming a fireball as she crossed the threshold of the shop, "Spill it! What did you do to Emma?"

"Dear, I think we have guests," Gold said, somewhat mockingly, to Belle. "Perhaps you'd best go put the tea on while I find out what it is they want."

"Emma's lost her memories," David chimed in, drawing his sword and standing beside his… er, step-mother-in-law. (Really doesn't roll off the tongue, does it?)

"And you think I had something to do with it? Of course you do," Gold snarled.

"Rumple," Belle whispered, putting her hand on the man's arm. Amazingly enough, it worked to calm him down better and faster than anything either of the two aggressors had ever seen. Once he was calm enough, he looked back to his 'guests' and spoke more civilly.

"I assure you, both, I have done nothing to Miss Swan, nor have I provided anything to anyone else that could be used to affect her in the manner in which you describe," he said.

The pair shared a glance, and while not as close as Charming and Snow were, they'd been in enough battles together and through enough that they could get the general understanding of what the other was thinking in a situation like this, IE dealing with Rumplestiltskin. Charming sheathed his sword at the same time Regina dispelled her fireball.

"Swear it," were the next words spoken.

"Excuse me?"

"Swear it on something that not even you would risk, and not on your son," she reiterated. "These Charmings might be willing to believe you on trust alone, but I know better. Swear it on either her life," she looked at Belle, drawing an angry, dangerous look from the shop owner, "or on your dagger. In the name of the Dark One. Swear it."

"You ask a great deal," he intoned darkly.

"Emma Swan, the Savior, the product of True Love, and the town sheriff just lost her memories right in front of me," Regina snarled. "And then not five minutes later, she actually defended me to her parents and all their friends and called me _her friend_! You, above everyone else, Rumplestiltskin, know what that means to me. You want me to believe that you had nothing to do with this? Swear it!"

Seeing just how serious his once-pupil was, he acquiesced, making the oath and swearing that he "had nothing to do with or knowingly provided anything that could possibly have been used to cause Miss Swan's forced amnesia." His unique wording had Charming and Regina share another look, but this time they kept their peace. For the moment.

"Is Emma OK?" Belle asked, concerned.

"She's fine," Regina answered shortly, choosing to ignore the woman that she'd kept imprisoned for twenty plus years, because a part of her felt that if she didn't she would do something that she would regret.

Charming shot her a dirty look and answered, "She is OK, physically. Thanks for asking Belle. The others have gone with her to the hospital to rule out any scientific or medical causes for her amnesia. While we try and rule out any magical causes."

"Well, dearie, any particular reason why I'm your first suspect?" Gold inquired.

"In case you weren't paying attention before," Regina crossly remarked. "_I_ was their first suspect, seeing as it happened right in front of me. She wasn't attacked. Just one second she was talking like normal, and then she collapsed, mid-sentence, like a puppet with the strings cut. When she came around, she had no idea who I was, who she was, where she was, or what was going on. A few pointed questions showed just how much her memory has been affected."

"What were you talking about?" Gold asked.

"None of your damned business!" Regina snapped. "Nothing that could even within the realm of possibility have lead to her losing her memories, I can assure you of that!"

"Very well then, that leaves us with the obvious, the obscure, and the unknown," he remarked, moving over to a specific area of his shop, pulling out a locked chest and opening it with a key from around his neck. "There are many ways to cause memory loss with magic. You can _take_ the memories, you can block them, you can share them, you can Forget them, and you can even contain them." With each mentioned method, he pulled out a new item from the chest, most of them bottled liquids of a variety of colors.

"Given the circumstances behind Miss Swan's very sudden memory loss, we're looking at either a keyed-curse, a time-release potion, a targeted effect of a magical working, or something much worse."

"Worse? What's worse?" Charming asked, his hands itching to grab his sword, but he knew it would do him no good at the moment.

"Weren't you paying attention, dearie?" Rumplestiltskin taunted. "The unknown. The obvious would be either a curse that was triggered by an action or word that Miss Swan was exposed to, or a potion that she consumed earlier and Regina just happened to be there when it finally took effect. A blood test looking for drugs—of any kind—would be able to detect such a potion. A bit more obscure is if she is the target of some magical effect from either a spell, an artifact, or a new power being unleashed. These," he held up a pointed crystal on a leather string, and clear crystal orb, "will be able to detect if it is curse or effect or anything magical at all. The potions here are the cures to all the more… common memory loss potions and such. Regina, you should be quite familiar with how these items work, no?"

"All right, Gold," the black-haired woman sighed, resigning herself. "What's the price? What will this cost us?"

Gold smiled, pulling back on the orb and crystal. "What were you talking about with Miss Swan, when she collapsed?"

Blushing furiously, Regina shot a scared look toward Charming, not really conscious of doing so. He saw it nonetheless. "Belle, why don't we step outside for a moment?" he suggested, already stepping toward the entrance, his arm held out to escort her.

"Yes, I think I could use a bit of fresh air at the moment," she smiled. "Thank you, David."

Once they'd left the shop, Regina closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, gathering her strength for what she was about to reveal.

SQW

At the Storybrooke Hospital, Doctor Whale had just left with Emma's charts and to go get her test results. Fortunately, it was a slow day at the hospital, and the labs were getting caught up on all their work, so it wasn't anything but a small favor to put the Sheriff's in near the front of the line, so to speak. On top of that, her family was with her, offering their full support, which at the moment was just Snow, her mother, and Henry, her son. She'd also managed to keep herself in her clothes instead of those open-backed hospital gowns, so all in all, Emma was feeling pretty good about herself.

She still didn't feel… whole, and when she thought of herself as 'Emma', for some reason the name just didn't seem to fit. Well, it did, but…

She knew she _*was*_ Emma Swan. The problem was, she didn't know who Emma Swan was, and from everything she'd been told and had figured out so far, it… it just didn't make any sense. For starters, apparently 'Emma Swan' had trouble believing in anything remotely supernatural or 'not normal'. _That_ was the only thing she had trouble believing at the moment.

Another thing, apparently she was the town sheriff and had been a bounty hunter before that. Now, she hadn't exactly had a lot of time or opportunity to be exposed to those kinds of jobs, but just from the general descriptions, it didn't really sound like something she would enjoy doing. If she were being honest with herself, (and what kind of person lies to themselves anyway?), what actually appealed to her was Doctor Whale's job. Or just being a doctor or healer in general. Even looking around the Emergency Room, with bored and/or stressed out nurses and doctors, and the barely controlled chaos of it all, a part of her could sense that this was a place of healing, of repairing what had been broken, of fixing what was wrong with either people or the world in general. Then Henry said something that put it all into perspective.

"And this is even the room where you broke the Curse by giving me True Love's Kiss!" he said, having been telling her stories of her life here in Storybrooke pretty much from the word go.

"True Love's Kiss?" she repeated, confused by the term, which her mind was conjuring images that rebelled at the mere thought of doing anything like that with her "son".

"In your and Henry's case," Snow quickly interjected, "that would be the true love of a parent for a child. Not of… a more personal and adult nature…" Her white cheeks turned a rosy pink color as she wouldn't meet either of her children's eyes.

"OK," the amnesiac said, still confused, but not willing to press on the issue at the moment. Or maybe she was. "Why was a curse broken by a kiss? Aren't parents supposed to kiss their kids all the time, or something?"

At this, Snow White stopped blushing and smiled brightly. "That's because True Love is the greatest magic of all. It can break any curse. And a kiss is the ultimate expression of love, whether that love be between a man and a woman, or a mother and her child. This was the room where the ultimate curse was broken by True Love's Kiss, by the Savior, the product of True Love itself."

"So… pretty much something magical happened in this room," Emma deduced. "What you might call the ultimate expression of light magic in the land?" She wasn't sure where those words had come from, but they seemed important somehow.

"You could say that, yes," Snow smiled lovingly.

"Huh," Emma grunted, thinking things over. That could explain why she felt so… at peace here, and why she sensed so much… goodness in this place, despite the obvious suffering that was going on. She knew and accepted that magic was real, Regina's demonstration earlier had cemented that for her. But with this new information, a new possibility presented itself. By any chance did she… could she _use_ magic?

If she could sense it, then certainly that would mean she could use it, right?

Having learned that her 'old' self would have rebelled at the possibility, even when presented with evidence, Emma decided that _she would believe_. She believed she could use magic. Now the question came; how?

Before she could tackle this however, Regina and David both walked in, the former carrying a couple things in her hands. Taking one look at the crystal ball and pendant, Emma received further 'evidence' that she was magical, as she could _sense_ that each item was magic and that they were diagnostic tools. The word 'scrying' popped in her head.

"How did it go?" Snow asked David after giving him a hug. You'd think they'd been separated for a week instead of less than an hour.

Emma glanced over at the stoic Regina and was surprised to find herself wanting to hug the woman just like Snow had hugged David.

"Gold did not do this to Emma," David said. "And if he had anything to do with it at all, it was unintentional. He might have sold or gifted whatever did this to her to someone else, but not with prior knowledge of what it would be used for."

"He also gave us these," Regina held up the orb and crystal, "to help narrow down what actually caused this, if it was magic at all."

"What do they do?" Snow asked, concerned.

"They scry for magic residue and trace it to its source. And that turns various shades of color before showing an image of the source of the magic residue."

Everyone turned and stared. Emma stared back, unclear why they all looked so stunned. Pointing back at the crystal on the string, "You're supposed to wave that over me while I hold the crystal ball, right?"

"Emma…" Regina croaked, then quickly cleared her throat and spoke again. "Emma, how do you know that?"

She shrugged and replied, "I don't know. I just looked at the things, sensed they were magical, and then images of what they were used for just kinda popped into my head."

"You've said that before," Regina said. "Emma, how long have these pictures been… popping into your head?"

"Do you think someone is trying to control her? Or influence her?" Snow asked.

"Maybe she's been possessed and this other spirit is suppressing her memories?" David gave a shot in the dark.

"Don't be ridiculous," Regina snapped. "Her eyes are clear and there would be clear and present signs of resistance if she were possessed. No matter what kind of spirit, the soul always resists possession. But it could be…"

"Guys!" Henry suddenly shouted, thankfully only having to do so once this time around.

"What is it, Henry?" Regina asked, her tone soft and motherly.

"I think you're all over-thinking this just a bit," he said. "Tell you what; think of an apple. Now, in your mind, did you see the spelling of the word apple? Did you taste or smell an apple? Or did you see a picture of it in your mind?"

That stopped the adults cold.

"That is an excellent point, dear," Regina complimented her son. "Except for one thing; Emma doesn't know the first thing about magic to be able to remember how these are used."

"So let's use them already and hopefully get some answers," Emma chimed in. "I'm all for getting my memories back, even if I do sound kind of like a stick in the mud, and the best way is to find out if it were caused by magic or not, right?" They all nodded. "Great, then give it here and let's get started." Emma grabbed the crystal orb and looked to Regina expectantly.

Sighing, she grumbled under her breath, "Well, you're idiotic stubbornness is still there."

She began waving the crystal on a string in wide circles over Emma's body on the hospital bed. The magic began working almost instantly. Both crystals lit up with a healthy pure white glow. The glow remained steady until Regina had completed one full circuit of Emma's body, at which point, the crystal on the string began turn first purple and then black and ultimately a bloody crimson. The orb in Emma's hands matched the same color cycle, before a scene began to play out, in hues of red, at the center of the orb. Snow instantly recognized the scene.

"Mother," Regina snarled, staring at the orb, holding the still spinning crystal above it. They all watched as Regina's mother, Cora, the Queen of Hearts, reached into Emma's heart just as the young woman pushed Snow out of the way. As the scene played out, they watched as Cora could not remove Emma's heart, and then the blond Savior said something and there was an explosion of light magic, knocking Cora away and leaving Emma whole and unharmed. The colors then changed again, from red to orange to yellow to green. At green, a new scene began to play out. Nobody recognized it, but a figure in black is seen standing over the Wishing Well in the forest, holding in her hand a very distinctive necklace, which she then drops into the Well. The figure disappears in a pillar of green smoke and a flash of light obscures the rest of the image. The color shifts a final time, to blue, and Emma suddenly sees herself, talking with Regina, and then that same flash of light from the last scene and in the current scene she immediately collapses, but not before they all see that she had somehow seen what was coming and moved between it and Regina and instinctively held up her hands. They could also see what looked like a shield of some sort, made of light, appear between Regina and the obviously dark curse intended for her. Once the scene faded, the crystal stopped spinning and all the lights went out. The room was deathly quiet after the revelation of how Emma had lost her memory.

"You… saved me…" Regina gasped.

"Told you, you're my friend," Emma said, handing the orb back to her. "What was that necklace? The one that was tossed into the well?"

"It was mine," Regina growled, moving to her throat. "I used to… it once carried something very precious to me. I… gave it up in exchange for something. It was supposed to be gone forever. I don't understand how this is possible."

"Someone attacked you, I protected you, and somehow lost my memories instead of my life. Seems pretty straightforward," she said with a shrug.

"Unless that is exactly what that curse was supposed to do," Regina pointed out.

"Ah, yeah, good point. Except… it was targeted at you," Emma tried to figure it out. "Using something personal that belonged to you. Doesn't that mean that it should only have affected you? Or someone just like you? I don't understand this stuff as well as I thought…"

"That was a woman," Snow said.

"Yes, how observant of you, dear," Regina snarked.

"So it wasn't Gold, and it wasn't you," she continued. "Then who was it? Maleficent?"

"Dragon?" Emma blinked, shaking her head.

"No, she's still… trapped," Regina said.

"Who else, that can use magic, would want to curse you?" David asked her.

"I don't know, but I intend to find out," she vowed.

"Great, hey can you teach me to use magic?" Emma suddenly asked, bringing the entire room to a screeching halt.

"What?" half the room demanded.

"Why do you want to learn magic, Emma?" Henry asked, confused.

"Because I'm pretty sure that I can use it, and it would be awesome to learn. It seems cool, and it can obviously do a whole lot. Plus, it helped me protect my friend, and I'm all for learning how to do that without losing my memories next time."

"Emma, no," Snow shook her head. "Magic always comes with a price."

"Noted," the amnesiac nodded her blond head, like she were learning a lesson in class.

"Plus, I only know dark magic," Regina sighed. "That is not something that someone like you should be exposed to, Emma."

"OK, so how do you tap into magic in general?" she asked.

"Focus, and emotions," she answered before she thought better of it.

"Focus and emotions," Emma repeated. "Any emotions?"

"Emma, don't!" Snow begged.

"So, light show," the bedridden woman muttered to herself, holding up her hands. She focused on creating a light show similar to what Regina had first shown her. And she focused on how Regina made her feel in general. A blinding strobe was unleashed from between Emma's hands, appearing and disappearing faster than any could blink, or shield their eyes.

"Whoa! I did it!" she giggled.

"How…?" Regina stammered, stunned and half-blind, like the rest of the room.

"Emma!" Henry exclaimed. "You did magic!"

"Yeah, how about that?" she grinned, looking quite pleased with herself.

"Don't _ever_ do that again! Do you hear me! Don't _ever_ do that again!" Regina screamed before running out of the room.

Everyone stared after her at her sudden and quite unexpected departure.

"Wow, I haven't heard Mom sound like that since the time I broke my leg climbing her apple tree," Henry commented in the encompassing silence. Looking at Emma, he shared, "At first I thought she was angry about me climbing her tree. I now know that she was just scared for me."

"She's not the only one," David added, looking concerned down at Emma.

"What? What's so bad that I did?" she asked, shrinking down into the covers of the bed.

"Magic is dangerous, sweetheart," Snow told her. "It has hurt everyone in this family in one form or another. Regina herself is struggling to give it up, for Henry. And remember, magic always comes with a price. And some things just aren't worth the price."

"So, why can I use magic in the first place… if I'm not supposed to use magic at all?" Emma asked, very much like a child asking about climbing trees.

"If you use it to protect and heal, then it's OK," Henry chimed in. "It's the other stuff that you shouldn't use it for."

"No, Henry, that's not…" Snow started to protest, but her husband interrupted.

"Snow," he whispered, a hand on her shoulder. "Remember, both of us have used magic ourselves at one time or another. Usually little trinkets or tools that we got from either Rumplestiltskin, Regina, or the Blue Fairy. To say that all magic is bad would make us hypocrites. Emma, honey, we're not saying that you shouldn't learn to control and _properly_ use your magic."

"Just that you not learn from Regina," Snow added with a finality that only a mother could provide.

At that moment, Dr. Whale returned with the results of Emma's tests.

TBC…

(AN: Yeah, this one is definitely getting continued, but I just ran out of time to get it out by today (Tuesday, June 10th). Probably a few of these will have future chapters, but at the same time some will be one-shots just to answer the challenge. As for any questions about the coverart... well, when they're written, you'll see in future chapters.)


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